


On Repeat/Next to You

by aeternamente



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 17:59:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2077680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeternamente/pseuds/aeternamente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pedro was on his computer procrastinating from doing his homework when Ursula burst into his room (Ursula never burst in anywhere, this was definitely new).</p><p>"Pedro, you’re an ass."</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Repeat/Next to You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a hybrid fic. I wrote "On Repeat" (the middle part of this fic) directly after "[An Ode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCWepZB6QsM)" was posted, and before I read the video description. Then I wrote "Next to You" (the beginning/end parts) to try to make it work with canon. It's still probably canonballed, but I tried!

Pedro was on his computer procrastinating from doing his homework when Ursula burst into his room (Ursula never burst in anywhere, this was definitely new).

"Pedro, you’re an ass."

"What? Why am I an—hey, I was using that!"

Ursula had pushed his hands away from the keyboard and pulled up her YouTube channel, and before Pedro knew what was happening, Balthazar’s song was up.

"You need to watch that again. Really watch it this time, and stop ignoring what’s right in front of you."

His protest died on his lips as the piano intro sounded tinnily from his headphones on the table. Could she really be saying…? But Ursula had already left. Pedro stared down at the headphones for another moment or two, then slipped them over his ears…

…and then his whole world shifted.

* * *

_This is an ode to Pedro_

The piano outro rolled by as it had at least ten times now, and then there was that moment—yeah, that moment right there—Balth looked up. Just that one second. There was something so… honest in his eyes.

Pedro hit repeat.

Was it weird that he kept listening to this song about himself over and over again? Self-centered or something? No, there was nothing self-centered about this. He wasn’t sure where his center was anymore. He felt like he’d tipped over and scattered everywhere and the only way to gather himself back into one piece was to keep watching, keep listening…

_Seems it’s about time that these words were spoken_

Balth was a talented guy. Everyone knew that. Pedro had a collection of his stuff on his iPod that he listened to pretty regularly. He even had a few songs from when Balth was eleven or twelve, before his voice had changed. (He’d gone into an instrumental phase from about ages thirteen to fifteen, and was more sensitive than most their age to the way his voice squeaked as it transitioned. But that was Balthazar. Perfectionist to a fault.)

(How did he remember these things? Had he always been paying this much attention?)

_Well, that picture would look all right  
He’s Pedro, he’s anybody’s type_

Of course Pedro had always looked after Balthazar, that small, soft-spoken kid who wrote poetry and had trouble looking people in the eye. He got picked on pretty bad before Pedro befriended him and refused to hear anyone call him a sissy in his presence. Pedro knew he had a certain amount of social clout, and he always tried to use it for the better. He’d never expected consequences like this.

_Would he look good next to you?  
Would his hand fit in yours?_

Shouldn’t he feel uncomfortable? He didn’t. Not in the slightest. It was kind of like when you get a knock to the head and you expect it to hurt, but really you’ve been too tense around there for a while and suddenly everything relaxes. Something was getting knocked into the right place in his head, in the pit of his stomach.

 _I reckon he’ll find someone  
_ _And I have no idea who it’ll be out of everyone_

This song… it struck Pedro that Balth was sidelining himself. He always did. Some people like it on the sidelines, and Balth was one of those people, but when you do that enough, sometimes you let things you want slip by you without even thinking, without asking.

_This is an ode to Pedro_

There was something else that Pedro saw this time in that moment Balthazar looked up at the end of the video.

Resignation.

Pedro didn’t hit repeat this time. Instead, he took off his headphones, grabbed his jacket, and went out the door.

* * *

 Pedro took several deep breaths as he hesitated in front of the door to Balthazar’s room. It was one thing to come to a decision, and another to execute the plan.

Balth’s mum had met Pedro at the front door, greeting him with an expression of guarded sympathy. She obviously knew, and was trying to wordlessly communicate something along the lines of,  _I like you and I’m rooting for you, but if you break my son’s heart, I_ will _murder you_.

So there was that.

There was also the fact that he didn’t know what to say, and when he tried to come up with something to say, he just drew a complete blank. He shook his head as if to clear it.  _Just do it, you doofus,_  he commanded himself.

He knocked.

"I don’t want to talk right now," came the muffled sound of Balth’s voice.

"Balthazar? It—it’s me, Pedro."

The silence that followed stretched almost too long to bear, but finally, Pedro heard the creak of mattress springs and the pad of footsteps, and then Balthazar opened the door.

He said nothing, but there was that poignant frankness in his eyes again, and this time, it wasn’t on a computer screen and he didn’t look down.

Pedro swallowed. “I… I saw your video. I mean, of course I’d already seen it, but—I mean, what I mean is—”

Balth sighed. “It’s okay,” he said. “If it makes you feel uncomfortable, I can take it d—”

All he could think was how fervently he couldn’t stand the idea of Balthazar taking down that video, that song, of him thinking that he would need to. He really desperately didn’t want Balthazar to finish that sentence, so he didn’t let him.

He kissed him instead.

Balth tensed up at first, but soon relaxed and responded, pulling Pedro into his room by the collar of his jacket. Pedro allowed himself to be led in as he lifted a hand to trail a thumb down Balthazar’s cheek, feeling the rasp of stubble over the contours of his face.

The door closed behind them, and after a long, slow moment, they drew back a little, Pedro resting his forehead against Balthazar’s. Pedro tried to gauge the look in Balthazar’s eyes, to get some idea of what he was thinking, but there was something there he couldn’t figure out. He offered a tentative smile to maybe break the ice.

Balthazar stepped back. Pedro blinked, suddenly feeling the emptiness of the space in front of him.

"This doesn’t make any sense," Balth muttered.

"It doesn’t—?"

"You thought it was a joke." His voice was still soft, but intensifiying. "You thought the  _song_  was a joke.”

Pedro sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I did. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I didn’t realize—” He stopped and regrouped. “Ursula came and told me—”

"Ursula…" Balth repeated, mortified. "She put you up to this, didn’t she?"

"No, she—"

Balth dropped down onto his bed and let his head fall into his hands. “I should have known.” He looked up again, frowning, blinking back tears. “You know, if you did this because you were sorry for me, you really shouldn’t have bothered.”

"I didn’t—I’m not—" Pedro cut himself off and sighed, then sat next to Balthazar on the bed. "Ursula just came to tell me I needed to watch your video again, and pay more attention this time. And I did. I did watch it again…. And again, and again—I had it on repeat like ten times." He laughed.

He thought he caught a ghost of a smile hovering over Balthazar’s lips, but it soon faded and he was still looking down.

Pedro hesitated, then took Balthazar’s hand in his own. “ _Would he look good next to you?_ " he sang. " _Would his hand fit in yours?_ " He squeezed Balth’s hand. " _I bet it would_.”

“ _Better than any other guy’s ever could…_ " Balthazar joined in.

"See? It’s true, isn’t it?"

Balth smiled and looked up. “You…” he began, “you really do like me?”

Pedro smiled back. “I really do.”

Balthazar spent a moment absorbing this. He did a little experimental wiggle of the hand that was still entwined with Pedro’s, as if testing to see if the connection was real. “I, uh…” he said. “Yeah, good. That’s… that’s good.”

They laughed.


End file.
